3:1 Now 5 the serpent 6 was more shrewd 7
than any of the wild animals 8 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 9 God 10 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 11
4:1 Now 12 the man had marital relations with 13 his wife Eve, and she became pregnant 14 and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created 15 a man just as the Lord did!” 16
6:5 But the Lord saw 19 that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination 20 of the thoughts 21 of their minds 22 was only evil 23 all the time. 24
15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield 28 and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 29
15:4 But look, 30 the word of the Lord came to him: “This man 31 will not be your heir, 32 but instead 33 a son 34 who comes from your own body will be 35 your heir.” 36 15:5 The Lord 37 took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
18:30 Then Abraham 46 said, “May the Lord not be angry 47 so that I may speak! 48 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18:31 Abraham 49 said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
18:32 Finally Abraham 50 said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
“Two nations 67 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
“Yes, 86 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, 90 he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 91
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. 92 Then she stopped having children.
30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 93 for I have learned by divination 94 that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”
32:9 Then Jacob prayed, 105 “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said 106 to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 107
42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain 108 for your hungry households and go.
44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. 109 Please do not get angry with your servant, 110 for you are just like Pharaoh. 111
1 tn Heb “And the
2 tn Heb “and he slept.” In the sequence the verb may be subordinated to the following verb to indicate a temporal clause (“while…”).
3 tn Traditionally translated “rib,” the Hebrew word actually means “side.” The Hebrew text reads, “and he took one from his sides,” which could be rendered “part of his sides.” That idea may fit better the explanation by the man that the woman is his flesh and bone.
4 tn Heb “closed up the flesh under it.”
5 tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.
6 sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”
7 tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.
sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew between the words “naked” (עֲרוּמִּים, ’arummim) in 2:25 and “shrewd” (עָרוּם, ’arum) in 3:1. The point seems to be that the integrity of the man and the woman is the focus of the serpent’s craftiness. At the beginning they are naked and he is shrewd; afterward, they will be covered and he will be cursed.
8 tn Heb “animals of the field.”
9 tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”
10 sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [
11 tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.
12 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.
13 tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
14 tn Or “she conceived.”
15 tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.
16 tn Heb “with the
sn Since Exod 6:3 seems to indicate that the name Yahweh (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, translated
17 sn The name Noah appears to be related to the Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). There are several wordplays on the name “Noah” in the story of the flood.
18 tn The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ (yÿnakhamenu) is from the root נָחָם (nakham), which means “to comfort” in the Piel verbal stem. The letters נ (nun) and ח (heth) pick up the sounds in the name “Noah,” forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, “The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29,” JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.
19 sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.
20 tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).
21 tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.
22 tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”
23 sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.
24 tn Heb “all the day.”
sn The author of Genesis goes out of his way to emphasize the depth of human evil at this time. Note the expressions “every inclination,” “only evil,” and “all the time.”
25 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
26 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
27 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
28 sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.
29 tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).
sn Abram has just rejected all the spoils of war, and the
30 tn The disjunctive draws attention to God’s response and the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, translated “look”) mirrors Abram’s statement in v. 3 and highlights the fact that God responded to Abram.
31 tn The subject of the verb is the demonstrative pronoun, which can be translated “this one” or “this man.” That the
32 tn Heb “inherit you.”
33 tn The Hebrew כִּי־אִם (ki-’im) forms a very strong adversative.
34 tn Heb “he who”; the implied referent (Abram’s unborn son who will be his heir) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35 tn The pronoun could also be an emphatic subject: “whoever comes out of your body, he will inherit you.”
36 tn Heb “will inherit you.”
37 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
38 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.
39 tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.
40 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
41 tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
42 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
43 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
sn The Hebrew expression translated have sexual relations with does not convey the intimacy of other expressions, such as “so and so knew his wife.” Sarai simply sees this as the social custom of having a child through a surrogate. For further discussion see C. F. Fensham, “The Son of a Handmaid in Northwest Semitic,” VT 19 (1969): 312-21.
44 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
45 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
sn Abram did what Sarai told him. This expression was first used in Gen 3:17 of Adam’s obeying his wife. In both cases the text highlights weak faith and how it jeopardized the plan of God.
46 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
47 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the
48 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
49 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
51 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
52 tn Heb “in the compassion of the
53 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
54 tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.
55 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
56 tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”
57 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.
58 sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the
59 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.
60 tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”
61 tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
62 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, indicating a reason for the preceding request.
63 tn After the preceding imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
64 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
65 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
66 sn Asked the
67 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
68 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
69 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
70 sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.
71 tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.
72 tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
73 tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.
74 tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).
75 tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”
76 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
77 tn Heb “touched.”
78 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
79 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
80 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
81 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
82 tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.
83 tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the
84 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
85 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
86 tn Heb “see.”
87 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
88 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
89 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the
90 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
91 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the
92 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
93 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
94 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the
95 tn Or “for.”
96 tn Heb “before me.”
97 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”
98 tn Heb “at my foot.”
99 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”
100 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
101 tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.
102 tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”
103 tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.
104 tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
105 tn Heb “said.”
106 tn Heb “the one who said.”
107 tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.
108 tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
109 tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”
110 tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”
111 sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.
112 tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.
113 tn Heb “hurry and go up.”